Jimmy Thelin challenges Aberdeen to replicate Celtic DNA as boss bids to make sure Scottish Cup win is no one off

The Dons lost the opening league game at Hearts and they now welcome Brendan Rodgers' men to Pittodrie this weekend

Jimmy Thelin wants to make sure Aberdeen aren’t one season wonders.

The Scottish Cup winners come back in fresh after lifting the trophy for the first time in 35 years.

It brought a silver-lined end to Thelin’s first season. Now, it is about trying to maintain those lofty standards or even surpassing them.

The Aberdeen manager said: “I think it's a great competition here in Scotland. There are a lot of good teams.

“Aberdeen have been in some finals. Now it was good to win something again for some years.

“To be a club that can push for that is difficult. Of course there were some years they won the Cup, but they have been close.

“That's the push and the excitement everybody has to feel and believe in. If you have a good season, a final is always a final. It's something else.

“But to arrive at semi-finals and finals, that's an ambition we have. When you arrive to a final, you have the chance.

“It's always special games. There are so many other things that come into a final. I think the players that we sign can see that Aberdeen have been there sometimes.

“Now we have won a trophy. Now we want to try to do it again and give us a chance to be there.”

Aberdeen lost their league opener to Hearts and it doesn’t get any easier with Brendan Rodgers squad heading north this afternoon.

They can get this game out of the way and park the Premiership for a couple of weeks.

Revenge might be on the visiting menu, but Thelin has nothing of respect for the job Rodgers has done.

He knows Aberdeen could learn a lot from what he has achieved.

He has taken Celtic to another level and how Aberdeen are looking to eventually get to those lofty levels.

“I think we had the answer on Sunday,” the Aberdeen boss claimed. “Celtic have had the same manager for some years now and have a clear vision of how they want to play.

“Everything is aligned, the recruitment. You see the new players, they are straight into the ideas.

“Of course they have individual skills that are a bit different, but they have been consistent in some positions also.

“That's what we are aiming for here. Also to try to catch the things we want and try to be a little bit longer term in some areas.

“Now we are in a transition phase, if I can say that is the right word. That's why I said we have this three-year plan.

“We have to do it step-by-step. We can't turn around exactly what we want in one season. We are in the middle of this now, in the second year.

“We have our direction and we keep pushing for that one, but try to be competitive during this journey also.

“I think it's important to be really clear what you want to achieve and try to keep the direction, even if the competitive game is coming and coming again.

“Otherwise you're never going to grow and achieve the level you want to.”

Thelin changed his tactics for the first time and played a 3-5-2.It did the job against Celtic at Hampden.

He will be looking to come up with another masterplan for this weekend..

Thelin confirmed: “Of course, there are some areas we want to protect better and Celtic have a really clear way of playing and a clear strategy.

“When you are really good at something, sometimes you can know but it is still difficult to stop .

“That is a journey we also want to improve ourselves, to keep working on our identity to be expert in something.

“And then speed up the process and time inside the team – that is our direction.”